Time for the PM’s chair to regain its primacy from proxies

With only the last phase of the elections remaining, the nation will have a new government and of course, a new Prime Minister very soon. While everyone seems to have decided who the next PM would be, even before the votes have been counted, this post of mine is not about who the next person would be, but whether he can bring back the primacy to the chair of the Prime Minister.

Ever since I started following politics, one thing that was always a no-brainer is that it is the PM’s chair that exudes all the power and oft heard refrain used to be: Even a bleating calf, if it were to sit on the chair, would be the most powerful. But, as we all know by now, this was certainly not the case, at least in the last 5 years of the UPA government.

In fact, if I were to be blunt, the last five years have seen the primacy of the chair being reduced to such an extent that leave alone the most powerful, it’s not even the second most powerful in the country. It could possibly be at fourth position, rather fifth, at best, and that is not even taking into account some other powerful individuals in the cabinet who had scant respect for the individual and the chair he occupied.

Of course, there were reasons why it happened, not the least was the public humiliation that Rahul Gandhi heaped on the Prime Minister while the latter was on an overseas trip, representing his nation, when he termed the ordinance to save tainted lawmakers as ‘complete nonsense’ and that it should be torn up and thrown away.

Whatever be the merit of the ordinance, the fact that it was done by the party vice president, undermining not just the PM while he was on foreign soil, but the collective wisdom of the union cabinet, was not lost on anyone. This public rebuke was a clear signal to all that neither the PM nor the cabinet were bigger or powerful than the party’s vice president. Of course, as was expected, all this was followed by party spokespersons and senior cabinet ministers too, who had, till just the other day, defended the ordinance and even pushed for it strongly, changing sides. Whose primacy got hit the most in the bargain was quite clear.

And it was not just this, the power exercised by the National Advisory Council, supposedly under the Prime Minister’s Office, but headed by Sonia Gandhi, is well-known. Although the stated objective of the council was to provide inputs in the formulation of policy by the government and to provide support to the government in its legislative business”, those who have followed its functioning know better. It was almost like a super cabinet that could often dictate terms on what, when and where, leaving the cabinet and PM with little option to go against.

Other than that, there were instances galore of the government wanting to take an economically prudent decision only to be swept aside by the ‘more powerful’ benevolent act for the nation’s holy cow, the poor. As I said, the PM’s wisdom, indeed the collective wisdom of the cabinet, could never measure up.

It may have been by design, but the message that goes out is that the top decision making body is not in power. The PM is not in power.

The question is why did the PM allow others to ride roughshod over him. It could be that the people who anointed him could not risk another Narasimha Rao, or someone who had a mind of his own and would exercise that option.

As I said, this piece is not about who the next occupant of the Prime Minister’s chair would be, but whether he would be able to bring back the primacy to the role. Whoever it is, would he/she be able to withstand the pressures from a powerful anointer or from the organization that he derives power from. Of course, one needs to take advice and suggestion from all over, even consult, but when the final decision is taken, it should seem to come from the person and not dictated by others.

The job of the PM, the dharma, is to provide governance. Provide all that a nation of a billion plus deserves. Education, food, water, shelter, clothing, sanitation, ability to lead a life of dignity. It cannot be done if the person himself or herself is unable to live with dignity.

The PM has to be a person who the world respects as someone who can’t be taken for granted. A person who has the authority in his/her country that is unmistaken.

Ultimately, the PM should have the power, not the proxies.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Author

Rajesh Kalra is the Chief Editor of Times Internet and business head for the non-English languages properties. A journalist for two decades, he also tried his hands at entrepreneurship in between. Although he has written on several subjects, he has a weakness for IT and telecommunications. He is an avid sportsman, a trained high-altitude mountaineer, a passionate mountain biker and a marathoner. His blog, Random Access, will cover issues that take into account these varied interests.
Follow @rajeshkalra on Twitter

Rajesh Kalra is the Chief Editor of Times Internet and business head for the non-English languages properties. A journalist for two decades, he also tried h. . .